Month: September 2021

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 09/28/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, The Gladiatores]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Cachorro, Leono, Retro b Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
Leono replaces Sonic, who keeps getting advertised despite not appearing. Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Amapola & Marcela b La Comandante & Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
Marcela took 1/3, beat Isis to set up a title match.
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus b Dark Panther, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring
Cancerbrors took 2/3.
5) Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Terrible DQ Atlantis, Felino, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Cavernario (worked as the rudos) took 2/3. Felino fouled Cavernario

Cavernario/Felino are still feuding. Isis/Amapola for the national women’s title appears set for next week, which means the Japanese women are heading to Guadalajara (and will stream live on Facebook for the people who want to see them) or there will be another ultra-rare CMLL show with two women’s matches.

CMLL (FRI) 10/01/2021 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Sonic vs Disturbio & Inquisidor
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura
3) Amapola, La Jarochita, Marcela vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Valiente vs El Felino Jr., Felino, Pólvora
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Hechicero

Los Infernales debut – except Dragon Rojo instead of Mephisto. Volador teams with no Depredadores. Atlantis Jr. is a tecnico this week.

Not streaming as far as we know. It’ll air on TV on 10/09, YouTube on 10/16.

CMLL (MON) 10/04/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Astro vs Joker
2) Cachorro vs Disturbio
3) Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
4) Atlantis Jr., Rugido, Stigma vs Ángel de Oro, Okumura, Templario
5) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © vs Felino Jr. & Pólvora [MEX TAG]
2nd defense

It feels like Felino Jr. has been in every Mexican National Tag Team title match, but I checked and it’s not true. Rugido being a semi-main guy in his debut is true if strange. It may just be because of they don’t have many male wrestlers booked but he’s still ahead of Cachorro.

CMLL (FRI) 10/08/2021 Arena México
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Okumura
2) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
3) Místico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero
4) Amapola, Dark Silueta, La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Reina Isis vs Avispa Dorada, Dalys, Momo Kohgo, Sonya, Stephanie Vaquer, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi [Gran Prix de Amazonas]

This is next week’s lineup earlier than usual to market the women’s Gran Prix. CMLL seems to be charging normal prices for that show though.

Avispa Dorada left Mexico in March 2020 seemingly with plans to return, and that break has gone on longer than expected. She hasn’t wrestled in the US as far as I’ve seen, but she’s coming back to Mexico for this. Sonya is the Costa Rican wrestler who appeared in singles matches in 2018 and 2019 and also probably would’ve been back sometime in 2020 had it been possible. She’d been posting CMLL memories recently on social media, which probably should’ve been a clue.

This would be a good show to stream in a normally operating wrestling company. It’s CMLL so who knows. ESTO’s article on the show does say it’ll be streaming, but there’s no sign of that on Ticketmaster.

Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, and Tsukushi made it to Mexico last night in time to catch part of the CMLL show. They’ll be on Informa. I wonder if everyone’s made enough fun of the Informa host’s behavior towards women, especially foreign ones, that he’ll become self-aware of it today. Probably not.

The next event after Gran Prix de Femenil is de Dia de Muertos shows. CMLL announced they’ll run three of those this year, on November 2 (Tuesday), 5 (Friday), and 7 (Sunday.) CMLL ran one empty arena Dia de Muertos show last year and two in 2019, so this is scaling back up. It felt like the concept was overdone when they ran three shows in 2018, but we probably won’t see the three shows and they’ll probably all draw well with reduced capacity. Maybe the Friday show will stream and others will turn up on TV later.

Last night’s Guadalajara show (video) included Ultimo Guerrero fouling everyone in the main event only for Satanico to confront him. They’re headed to a singles match. Indie luchadora Aradia did a run-in early on the show; I believe she’s the one who used to be an edecan in that arena.

AAA

A 10/10 AAA spot show in Merida has been postponed due to COVID. The 10/11 show in (relatively) nearby Cancun seems to still be on, as does the 10/09 Heroes Inmoratles. Orizaba is far away and under it’s own state’s rules – this shouldn’t concern you beyond the general “any show may be canceled at any time due to COVID” general concerns.

That still exists as a general concern, one impending AAA on running their business. Konnan, on his podcast a couple of weeks ago, disappointingly indicated AAA hoped to be back to normal TV tapings after Heroes Inmoratles and are instead expected to continue taping at cultural locations. Everyone hoped AAA(/Mexico/the world) would be in a better position by now but there’s still no clear idea when events can go back to normal. That’s a problem for a touring promotion who needs to figure out likely locations months in advance. That brings us to Dorian Roldan doing a Twitter poll asking if AAA should buy an arena, which theoretically would fix that location problem. I initially treated that poll with disdain – running a poll to ask if you should buy a building is something I would expect from a group the size of Kriminal Lucha Libre, not the biggest wrestling company in Mexico. (Toxin would do it on Instagram, a vital difference.) The more I’m thinking about it though, the more I think AAA probably does need to get themselves an arena for 2022 to make sure they have actually have a secure place in 2022 to sell tickets. Just not sure if a decision on how you’re fundamentally running your business should be a poll on twitter. Maybe the poll question might be if it’s better to rent an arena for an extended time or buy one outright.

(It’s worth noting that if AAA has the money to buy an arena, I would personally prefer they use it to settle their ongoing litigation so I don’t have to pirate their content. Or maybe pay the wrestlers better. We can’t always get what we want.)

AAA posted a promo of Deonna Purrazzo asking why no one’s challenged for the promotion, She’s new in AAA, she’s doesn’t know that no one ever makes title challenges, there are just random title matches and no one talks about the champions when they’re not already set up for a title match. No one’s brought up Taurus’ title the entire time he’s had it – Villano III Jr. is more interested in getting revenge on Octagon Jr. from the title match than he is about the actual title.

Pluto TV has recently run some apparently newly taped AAA promos. They generally just air older stuff, though Lucha Fighter was on there for a while. It’s hard to figure how AAA can still be on PlutoTV internationally but not YouTube or Facebook; I’d presumed it was just an existing deal that would quietly be wound down, but it’s not winding down if they’re filming new promos.

Australian Suicide mentioned he’s got to wait 7 more months for his marriage visa to arrive, so no Mexico for him until next May maybe.

Other News

Aramis versus Arez airs on MLW today on YouTube. That’ll stay up after show airs at 6 pm CT, at least until they change their content strategy again. Those in attendance who didn’t know those two guys beforehand said they were impressed.

Laredo Kid versus Trey Miguel versus Alex Zayne airs on Impact Thursday. That’s the first part of a tournament to decide a new X-Division champion. I’d be surprised if Laredo made it to the next round.

IWRG (THU) 09/30/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Spider Fly vs Limbo & Shalom
2) Benga Lee & Diosa Quetzal vs Kendy Rebel & Satania
3) Rey Halcón & Tortuga Leo vs Noicy Boy & Sol
4) Akabl, Mexica, Toxin vs Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
5) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike vs Halloween Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Sick Boy

Sick Boy continues his war against the strippers. This is the last normal IWRG show for a bit because the weekend is different.

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 10/02/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Desastre & Último Caballero vs Blue Star & X-Boy
2) Perseo, Rey Azaroth, Súper Boy vs Blue Win, Rey Minos, Súper Ometa
3) Baby Star, Halcón Mágico, Spider Fly vs Carnicero, Cyber, Vudu Max
4) Black Dragón, Death Metal, Rey Halcón vs Amnesia Jr., Gallo Extreme, Taliban
5) Golden Fly, Gran Arak, Hannibal, Mercury, Pantera Blanca Jr., Rey Marte vs Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Fussion, Sol, Tonalli, X-Devil and Dragón Boy, Falcón, Jeff Killer, Lobo Blanco, Rey Dragón, Símbolo Azteca
Kingdom vs FILL vs Vanguardia

A FILL show for the first since the pandemic, and the first Saturday show since 2018. The rare Saturday shows are usual another promotion coming in and I don’t immediately understand why IWRG is changing their own day on their own. Unless maybe they’re running Saturday as well?

The show after that at Arena Naucalpan is the Mas Lucha Supremo tournament on 10/07. Still no full card, but they’ve announced the eight people in the single-elimination tournament:

• Jessy Ventura
• Laredo Kid
• Bandido
• Emperador Azteca
• Rayman
• Villano III Jr.
• Cuatrero
• Sangre Azteca

None of those 8 were in last year’s 16 person Torneo Mas Supremo; that one was more pulling from the partner Mas Lucha promotions and this one seems an attempt at an all-star bit. I’d be happy with a final four of Laredo, Bandido, Villano, and Cuatrero, though I’m less certain about that as they go along, and sure there will be different names involved. It’s going to be intriguing to see what Cuatrero shows as a single outside of CMLL and if Ventura’s popularity holds up against some bigger outside names. Three Bandido and/or Laredo matches in one night is an easy way to sell a show to me.

The full Crash card for next Friday

The Crash (FRI) 10/08/2021 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Terror Azteca, Torito Negro, Toto vs Kamik-C, Próximo, Skalibur
2) Aramis & Destiny vs Black Danger & Dinámico
3) Faby Apache & Sexy Star 2 vs Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo
4) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Rey Horus vs Flamita vs Rich Swann
5) Pagano & Psycho Clown vs Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf and Masada & Moose

Bestia & Mecha were added to the main event like someone forgot to book them. They should keep the match from falling apart. It’s going to be tough for Sexy Star 2 as she gets out there, though tougher here where the fans might actually identify her under her Hija de Gatuebla name.

Sports Illustrated talked to Rush about his current status. Rush explains his doctor told him that “if I didn’t have surgery in a few years, it would make my situation worse and worse over time.” So he got the surgery now. Rush continues to state he’ll be out eight months. Take the under. Rush confirms his contract expires at the end of the year and ROH and he has not talked about a new contract. I think we’re supposed to take away thoughts about Rush’s future locations, but I wonder what position ROH is in to give long-term contracts. Fans read Homicide showing up on AEW last week as some thaw in the relationship with ROH, but I believe the reality is some of the people who appear on ROH TV are not under a contract; a promotion running no shows is probably not in a great position to talk contracts until they figure out what their 2022 will look like.

Andrade hasn’t made it back to Torreon to wrestle yet, so El Siglo de Torreon went to Saltillo two hours away to check him out  at the BARBA show this past Saturday. I know Mas Lucha was recording that show but I hadn’t seen anything about it and was shocked how badly that drew. That promotion filled the building just about the start of the pandemic and the bleachers look very empty this time out. I’m under the impression that promotion is running shows for fun and not money, but that’s got to be disappointing.

Psycho Clown debuts for GCW on their 10/23 show in Los Angeles. No opponent named. AIW’s podcast today mentioned tickets for their November show with only Psycho Clown announced are moving well; I believe those are only available through their Patreon right now.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania and the latest Lucha Report.

El Sol de Mexico has the story of a Mexican who ended up moving to Germany and starting a lucha libre styled promotion. Or the story of why “GWF” footage sometimes ends up on lucha libre YouTube channels, I suppose.

There’s a Mexico State lucha libre licensing exam on October 23rd.

CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México [CMLL, El Universal, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) Templario b Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]   
15:41. vacant title, last held by Octagon. Templario is 61st champion.
2) Titán & Volador Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]   
17:13. Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL. Volador & Titan are 43rd champions.
3) Hechicero b Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY]    
14:06. Originally for MEX HEAVY. Guerrero falls on 11th defense. Hechicero is 21st champion. Satanico seconed Hechicero and asked him to reform Los Infernales with Euforia & Mephsito post-victory. Hechicero accepted.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]   
14:29. 1st defense.
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © b Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG]   
14:19. 4th defense.

This was better than last week’s show. Hechicero defeating Ultimo Guerrero was a good/great match and was a happy moment; it was the one result on this show the fans were very investing in seeing happen and CMLL gave it to them. Everything else was fine, with big show effort if not always the results. I think I’m the low person on Templario/Dragon Rojo; Rojo did make it through the match in one piece and it was a good showcase for Templario. Time management was better than recent shows, though it did seem people were still hurrying to finish their matches at all.

The downside includes the fans weren’t really into the matches that got voted into the top spots. They didn’t reject either national tag match, they were just quiet for most of it. This is always part of the deal with fan voted matches on the internet: most of the votes come from a small group of people very invested in seeing their favorite person won, and the wider group of who barely vote or don’t vote at all aren’t invested it. The men’s tag match wasn’t much good – Espanto Jr. kicking Rey Cometa’s teeth out by accident is the most memorable moment, and I missed that live. The main event women’s tag match seemed like they weren’t doing much early, tried to pack a lot in the last third, and then weren’t able to perform their complicated finish. The double women’s dive off the stage bit probably is more impressive if you haven’t seen it every month by someone. The Gemelos were unsurprisingly not ready for this level of this match (and I’m not sure if they ever will be) and Volador took the night off, which would’ve been unthinkable on an Aniversario at one point.

Satanico announced Hechicero, Mephisto, and Euforia as the newest version of Los Infernales after his title win. This is a good idea, because it’s a concept the remaining CMLL fans have strongly positive feelings and it gives more value to wrestlers like Hechicero & Euforia. It’s also good because, like Los Depredadores, it’s another idea mentioned by luchadors in their interviews that actually produced a result on screen, a welcome change from previous patterns. It’s not great the new idea is for wrestlers who are early 40s or early 50s when CMLL desperately needs young stars. Mephisto has long history with this group name, but they needed someone CMLL can build for the future more than him. It also fits the recent pattern of nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake – CMLL’s creative has no interest in making an interesting promotion for 2021 and is instead bringing back all the things they personally enjoyed in the early 80s with no idea of what to do with them beyond that. A way to approach this is CMLL’s not going to get better so it’s nice they doing something with Hechicero.

Ultimo Guerrero is leaning way into the “cancer of CMLL” bit. It’s good to have an over heel, though he still tries to get the crowd to cheer him at times.

I think Titan is in Los Depredadores but they didn’t spell it out.

Tuesday, CMLL and the Mexico government released a video advertising Mexico and lucha libre to people outside of Mexico. If you were an international person who was interested in CMLL’s lucha libre on Friday, you were out of luck. The TicketmasterLive PPV was not available to people with addresses outside of Mexico. I thought it was a mistake – no previous CMLL PPV was limited to Mexico and surely CMLL or TicketMaster would explain that change if it happened. I was very wrong on both accounts. The Aniversario was only available for those who had a Mexican IP address with no prior warning. Both Ticketmaster and CMLL ignored all requests about the situation prior to the show. I have no information on if this is a permanent change or a one-time thing. Obviously, I recommend against spending any more money on CMLL shows until they explain the situation. I’d be shocked if CMLL did at this point, they do not care and appear as if they’d be happier if everyone just left them alone.

I felt at my lowest ebb as a lucha libre fan after Friday night. Both CMLL and AAA have made at least part of the product unwatchable outside of Mexico. Neither of the shows are all that good right now. AAA’s major shows generally are fun at this point and there’s a handful of regular TV episodes that’ll click, but 10 good TV shows in 52 weeks is not a great use of time. CMLL’s not doing even that good. And it’s not like there’s even a lot of indie stuff that’s exciting me or the ones I want I can even see. I don’t know. I did think, after the fiasco on Friday, that I probably would’ve given up watching CMLL at that point if I was just a person who watched CMLL and didn’t have a whole blogging/database/wiki thing attached. It’s not healthy or productive to watch something you don’t enjoy (and may actively dislike you), not when there are so many options of other things to do in this world.

I hit 20 years of writing about lucha libre this month (congrats to me) and there have been other times when I’ve hit or nearly hit a breaking point. It’s usually been about the “luchablog” stuff preventing me from enjoying the rest of my life, and then I make some changes or feel a little differently about things and I keep going. It’s rarely been about the lucha libre itself, but the lucha libre and the people who put the shows are intensely frustrating at the moment. Maybe it’ll get better, maybe I’ll get over it, but I thought it was worth spelling out until I figure out how to handle. It shouldn’t be hard to read I’m unhappy with things at the moment, and maybe if you’re a person just looking to find out if a match is any good should keep that in mind when trying to decipher my reviews.

CMLL (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena México [CMLL, De Luchas TV, ESTO, Kaiser Sports]
1) Leono, Robin, Sangre Imperial b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Nitro
Robin replaced Sonic, Nitro replaced Grako a few hours after the card was posted
2) Amapola & La Metálica b La Comandante & Reyna Isis
Reina Isis replaced Tiffany on Saturday. Team Amapola took 1/3.
3) Okumura, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Flyer, Pegasso, Stigma
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Panterita del Ring b Cancerbero, Felino Jr., Raziel
Tecnicos took 2/3. Felino Jr. replaced Luciferno a few hours after the card was posted on Thursday.
5) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Negro Casas b Blue Panther, Místico, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Rudos took 1/3. Angel de Oro used the ropes to beat Mistico this week.

That’s two weeks in around for Mistico/Angel de Oro, so they’ll likely have a singles match on 10/03. Four subs on this show ahead of time; they all might not be COVID, but this is now a regular thing.

CMLL (TUE) 09/28/2021 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Cachorro, Retro, Sonic vs Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
3) Amapola & Marcela vs La Comandante & Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Atlantis, Felino, Negro Casas vs Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

Felino and Cavenario matched up in the main event. The concept of Amapola & Marcela seemed thoroughly rejected in the Aniversario poll, but it’s an idea CMLL hasn’t tried yet so they’re going to run with it anyway.

CMLL (MON) 09/27/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Cosmo, Raven, Último Ángel vs Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Relámpago Azul
2) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Persa vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
3) Náutica & Sexy Sol vs Miss Delicious & Valkiria
4) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer
5) Gallo, Místico, Zandokan Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

Main event is the 2006 tribute act. Miss Delicious, mostly seen in IWRG, seems to have gotten swooped up by the Guadalajara booking office. She’s here and on the Queretaro shows they’re booking. Two women’s matches on a show are rarer than women’s main events in CMLL right now; the semimain is probably leading to a tag title rematch for next week.

Puebla has Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa versus Polvora & Felino Jr., which likely sets up a title match on 10/04.

CMLL Televisa aired the first four matches from 09/17 show, which means no Felino/Cavernario hair match. The same matches always show up on YouTube the following week. That hair match wasn’t much good but I understand why people will be disappointed not to see it. There’s probably a Drive where you can find all the matches from that show.

CMLL announced Tsukasa Fujimoto, Momo Kohgo, Tsukushi will be coming in from Japan starting next Friday. They’d been previously announced as coming in Japan. There’s no great explanation for why it’s possible for Japanese women to come to CMLL and not Japanese (or even American) men to come to CMLL, except the obvious bit that the women are probably more inexpensive to book.

CMLL also announced the first even Gran Prix Femenil on 10/08. The past Gran Prixs have been Mexico versus the World, though there doesn’t seem to be enough foreign women in CMLL as is to do that style. The three Japanese women coming, Panama’s Dalys, and Chile’s Stephanie Vaquer gets CMLL to five. The US’s Avispa Dorada would be a welcome return but there’s no indication that’s happening. Maybe they’ll go back to pretending La Comandante is from Argentina. I see people on Twitter hoping that Puerto Rico’s Zeuxis will return to CMLL for this. She did get mentioned by Satanico in the same press interview that suggested this Los Infernales group, so it’s at least a possibility. CMLL could tone down the Mexico/World aspect.

The winners from the Aniversario show attended a party on Mexico’s World Trade Center on Saturday.

An article about Mistico retaking the gimmick and hoping to restart a boom got picked up in a lot of international papers for whatever reason. Didn’t seem like there was anything new to it.

Other News

AAA , ROSALES (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Majestic, Niño Águila, Radiante b Beebop, Kingu, Silver Boy
2) Faby Apache b Lady Shani, Lady Maravilla  
Lady Maravilla replaced La Hiedra
3) Daimoo & Toxin b Cobre & Golden Jacket and Galio & Látigo and Astuto & Radiante [Copa Rosales]
4) Astor & Raptor b Joe Lider & Rey León (California) and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
Astor is the new name for the ex-Mascara de Bronce.
5) Murder Clown, Niño Hamburguesa, Psycho Clown b Abismo Negro Jr., King Balam, La Parka Negra

This did not air live but will slowly start to turn on YouTube anyway. I had to convince my database that “Astor” was not a typo. I’m still not totally convinced. Maybe the most notable thing that happened on this show is edecan Bere accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in the middle of the ring.

Saltillo luchador El Chompiras (Alberto Ramirez Dominguez, 73) passed away Thursday according to El Diario de Coahuila. He worked as a trainer and was in charge of local wrestling licenses in recent years. There’s a great group of photos in the article.

Fans attending shows in Quintana Roo are now required to show proof of vaccination. This report mentions it happening at 150 fan indie show, so they’re asking it for all events. I haven’t heard of proof of vaccination for events in Mexico prior, though it’s only been recently where vaccinations were open to everyone.

The city of Leon has banned lucha libre, among other public events, for the time being.

Head Hunter was prohibited from wrestling in Arena Neza this weekend because he’s a very large man at an advanced age and he has some of the obvious health problems you might expect given those priors even if you’re not a doctor. (High blood pressure was announced.) The surprise was there was actually a doctor at the show to check these things.

Bandido retained the PWG World Championship on their show Sunday night over Davey Richards. Black Taurus & Flamita lost to Brody King & Tommy End in a match for the vacant PWG World Tag Team Titles. Dragon Lee defeated Aramis earlier on the card. Laredo Kid didn’t show up, not only costing himself future bookings but taking Rey Horus off the card when the match was changed to a 1v1 instead of the planned 2v2. Lee/Aramis was said to be one of the better matches of the show. Alex Shelley won a title shot against Bandido for a later show over Jonathan Gresham; it sure looks like the Gresham/Bandido match is being saved for ROH’s December show instead.

(Alex Zayne is on ROH’s podcast today but they don’t reveal when the likely already taped Zayne/Bandido title match is airing.)

DMT Azul’s latest press conference included a claim the Mexico City lucha libre commission isn’t officially recognized by Mexico City. That would be very weird after all these years but can’t rule it out when it comes to lucha libre. I guess the idea is to say they would have no legal standing to strip DMT Azul for the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship, but it would seem like they’d have no legal standing to create or manage championships in the first place. The titles can’t be meaningful without the commission having some standing, so I don’t understand how this helps DMT Azul outside of keeping the story in the news.

Hijo del Vikingo vs Rey Horus vs Flamita vs Rich Swann has been added to the 10/08 The Crash show, as is Sexy Star 2 & Faby Apache vs Deonna Purrazzo & Christi Jaynes. It’s weird to me that The Crash is bringing in the AAA champion but AAA is not on the same weekend but I suppose it doesn’t matter.

CM Punk told a random Twitter user his dream matches included himself and Bryan Danielson versus the Lucha Brothers in a double hair versus mask match, which caused Mexican media (and AAA) to embarrassing fall over themselves for the slightest acknowledgment in a thrown off tweet. Mexican wrestling insists it’s the best wrestling in the world but acts as if it’s a small-time outpost anytime a US star acknowledges them. Maybe it is.

The LA Parks face 5150 (Danny Rivera/Limelight, Slice Boogie, Dr. Julius Smokes)  on MLW’s show this Saturday in Philadelphia. 5150 debuted as “LAX” on the previous taping, a lot of people were surprised MLW had the rights to use the Impact-owned LAX name, and I guess changing to 5150 indicates they didn’t have the rights to that name after all. That bit up I linked there doesn’t name anyone in 5150 so I guess it could be another combination; Smokes doesn’t wrestle much.

A bust of Salvador Lutteroth was unveiled in Colotlan, Jalisco, where he was born. They also named the street after him. Salvador Lutteroth’s son sent a thank you video. The article notes Lutteroth built a primary school, employed people from the city at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, and started building a nursing home before he passed away.

Netnoticas has an interview with Juarez luchadora La Sirenita, which goes into personal stuff. She started training as a luchadora young and ended up having two kids by the age of sixteen, thanks to a luchador that wasn’t supposed to watch over her.

Peridocio La Voz looks back at Chicano Power, who passed away three years ago.

CMLL

CMLL 88th Aniversario tonight. The one lingering bit was the main event. Reyna Isis announced she will be able to wrestle on tonight’s Aniversario show, after testing negative on her most recent COVID test. That completes the card:

CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]
vacant title, last held by Octagon
2) Titán & Volador Jr. © vs Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]
Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL.
3) Hechicero vs Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY]
Originally for MEX HEAVY, 11th defense.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG]

You can buy the show via TicketmasterLive, though I had some issues doing so. I think someone on Ticketmaster has this show marked as a physical ticket, not an email, and it’ll be available everywhere if they just uncheck that box. That’s maybe one of those reasons CMLL should be using a company focusing on streaming shows for these, not a ticket-seller website doing it on the side.

The Aniversario show remains live only, no VOD. CMLL said the opener will air on AMX next week, which I think means the rest sure turn up on Televisa and YouTube eventually. I don’t want to promise that because I have no idea what CMLL is going to do, but I don’t think anyone’s betting their life on the ability to see CMLL matches. In-person tickets seem to be tracking towards a sell-out; the Aniversario name is such that people who haven’t gone to a show since pre-pandemic will try to show up for this one. No one outside of the CMLL bubble knows or cares this show is happening, but the bubble itself is still large enough to fill up the building (as allowed) for an Aniversario. It’s the other shows that are the problem.

Samurai TV will air matches from both this week and last week’s show on October 7th. They typically air Aniversario every year. I expect it’ll also turn up on NJPW World.

I think it’ll be a better show than last week. Nothing here feels like a sure bet to be one of the best matches of the year, but most of them seem like they’ll be good and everyone’s usually better on a show like this.

matches ranked in order of my certainty in the results, from most to least certain

• Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]: CMLL’s already setting up the next title defense in Puebla, this is more about Akuma & Espanto proving (or disproving) they deserve more shots.
• Templario vs Dragon Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]: Templario’s the guy and Dragon Rojo just getting this far is his victory
• La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]: the challengers already have their own titles, too soon for the champs to lose, but other promotions might do a title change in the main event to make it more historic
• Ultimo Guerrero vs Hehicero [CMLL HEAVY]: the single result that would make people watching this show the happiest is Hechicero beating Ultimo Guerrero; CMLL does not exist to make you happy
• Volador & Titan vs Los Gemelo Diablos [CMLL TAG]: close to a coin toss; Volador & Titan are slight favorites but neither side winning should be a surprise.

It really hurts CMLL that tonight’s PPV is live only. People who just want to watch a big show tonight are going to pick the AEW one, but they might check out the CMLL one over the weekend if something hits well. Some of those people still might but they won’t be paying CMLL or Ticketmaster to do so.

We don’t know when the next CMLL PPV will be, just that they only seem to be doing them on big weeks. November 1st is a Friday this year, so that lines up perfectly for Dia de Muertos, but it’d be a longer wait for a show than usual. I’m sure another tournament is coming, I don’t know which one it’ll be.

Sunday lineup

CMLL (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena México
1) Leono, Sangre Imperial, Sonic vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Grako
2) Amapola & La Metálica vs La Comandante & Tiffany
3) Flyer, Pegasso, Stigma vs Okumura, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Raziel
5) Blue Panther, Místico, Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]

Last week’s main event had Angel de Oro cheating Mistico, so we’d expect that again. Flyer seems to have been passed by a few tecnicos. Esfinge hasn’t been around in six weeks.

Other News

IWRG (THU) 09/23/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Fussion & Hell Boy b Shalom & Skanda 
2) Legendario, Noicy Boy, Sol b Kenji, Rey Halcón, Vudu Max 
3) Diosa Atenea & Kendy Rebel b Lolita & Sagitarius 
4) Halloween Jr., Medico Brujo, Sick Boy b Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike 
Sick Boy & Medico Brujo avenged Espectro’s busted tooth from last week’s show against the Big Strippers.
5) Aster Boy, Bengalee, Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Tonalli, Toxin b Eli Surge, Giant Orión, Liiza Hall, Lil Blay, Miles Deville, Sidney Steele, Sweet Daddy Soul 
Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Wagner beat Giant Orion to win.

Mexico triumphed over Canada. A proud day for all.

Sunday’s Arena Naucalpan show is actually an AAA spot show:

AAA , ROSALES (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) ? vs ??
2) Golden Jacket & Rey León vs Cobre & Galio and Astuto & Tiago and Daimo & Toxin [Copa Rosales]
3) Lady Shani vs La Hiedra vs Faby Apache
4) Ex-Mascara De Bronce & Raptor vs Emperador Azteca & Head Hunter and Diva Salvaje & Jesys Ventura
5) Murder Clown, Niño Hamburguesa, Psycho Clown vs Abismo Negro Jr., King Balam, La Parka Negra

Guess which luchador is the promoter. These don’t always stream, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had one and so who knows. I believe Mascara de Bronce has announced a new name, wrestled once, and then disappeared for six months at least twice prior. I hope he’s doing well. Head Hunter is working a bunch of shows this weekend.

IWRG and Lucha Time people posed with a government official earlier on Thursday. This is the most I’ve seen Lucha Time in months.

AEW Rampage tonight has the Lucha Brothers & Santana & Ortiz vs The Butcher and the Blade and Private Party. I’ve read the reactions for the LB team were very strong.

09/25 AAA on Space

• Latigo, Arez, Argenis vs Dulce Kanela, Komander, Dinastia
• Octagon Jr., Lady Shani vs Abismo Negro Jr., Mamba
• Chessman, Pagano vs Puma King, DMT Azul

I’m not checking this but I feel like Dinastia has appeared on TV more times the year than past, because he’s always been available (few outside dates) and he only gets used when they’re just throwing matches out there to fill time. That’s most of these shows. I’m not smart enough to figure out why Abismo Negro Jr. is on the same show as his friends and not teaming with them.

Dorian Roldan teased doing Bryan Danielson versus Kenny Omega in AAA after seeing the match in AEW. Bryan Danielson versus Kenny Omega will probably not be happening in AAA. It’d be neat if they were teasing Danielson versus Psycho Clown, like the AEW guy actually threw out there this week, but I’m not sure AAA’s all that interested in the people they have until they go elsewhere and make a name for themselves.

PWG on Sunday includes

• Dragon Lee & Laredo Kid vs Aramis & Rey Horus
• Black Taurus & Demonic Flamita vs Brody King & Malakai Black
• Bandido vs Davey Richards for the PWG World Championship

Those matches sound good. The previous show not coming out on DVD before this one is not good.

Villahermosa luchador Mr. Demoledor (Juan Antonio Catzin Caraveo) passed away Wednesday after a battle with COVID-19 according to El Heraldo de Tabasco. The local promotion held a benefit show for him about a week ago. Going through his Facebook, Demoledor apparently broke a leg on a bad dive around August 23rd, then was back in the hospital in serious conditions on September 7th. He’s believed to be the first luchador from the state of Tabasco to die of COVID; there’s not as much wrestling in that state as others.

Mascara Sagrada is trying to raise money for surgery.

Rey Bucanero will be out two or three more weeks with knee rehab.

Dralistico, talking with Lucha Azteca, says he’s briefly talked with AAA since leaving CMLL but has no dates with them right now. He wants to team with Dragon Lee against the Lucha Brothers.

GALLI announced Mil Muertes versus LA Park for their big 10/03 in Cicero. We’re many years away from when Mesias & LA Park had some of the best matches of the year but it’s a good match to book to see if any of the magic is still there.

Mas Lucha asked fans to follow them on YouTube channel Mas Lucha Jr. and on their Facebook page. They continue to post videos on their normal YouTube channel and haven’t announced any further change; they were streaming Thursday’s IWRG show on both channels. In my experience, starting a similar second channel usually happens when you’ve got some concern about that first channel going down. The original Mas Lucha channel going down would be painful for that media company and devastating for the lucha libre community – I’m sure 90% of the videos would be gone from the public forever because there never would be the time to upload it all, much less the interest. Mas Lucha has never gotten a verification flag; having that relationship with YouTube seemed to help AAA when they got in copyright trouble over the lawsuit. That’d be an avenue I’d try, but perhaps they’ve already tried it. I hope it works out positively for them.

The 10/08 The Crash show at Auditorio de Tijuana will have a main event of Psycho Clown & Pagano versus Moose & Masada. Mexican wrestling promotions love Masada.

Kriminal Lucha Libre posted a graphic for the WWE UK Title Tournament, which has gotten no more or different reaction than their other Facebook posts. I presume that’s a tease to bringing in Travis Banks. It’s important to note Travis Banks hasn’t been officially announced but who else is going to be from the 2017 WWE UK tournament? Like I said previously, Big Lucha might be a rare promotion in Mexico to even be apologetic for using Banks. Everyone is going to be excited to have a”real-life legitimate WWE (UK) star” that nothing else matters; young Mexican wrestlers generally lose their mind over working with someone who’s been a name elsewhere. (Look at the Canadian wrestlers in IWRG last night, who are relatively not even that much of a star.) I don’t know if Toxin knows the reaction to Banks working Bandido’s show – it was a story only on English-speaking Twitter, never broke into the general Mexican wrestling discussion, and Toxin’s not someone I see on Twitter much – but I’m also not sure if it would change anything.

La Jornada talks to Lady Apache, who questions why there’s never been a female star on the level of Santo or Blue Demon, and answers it as because of the “machismo” in Mexican wrestling.

Laredo Kid beat John Skyler, again, on Before the Impact. That’s the good news. The less good news is Laredo Kid drew Trey Miguel and the debuting Alex Zayne in the first round of a tournament for the vacant X-Division match on next week’s show, and he’d probably got the worst chances of advances. I guess we’ll for sure know where Impact sees him.

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report.

Lucha Libre Day Press Conferences

Tuesday was Dia de Lucha Libre y Luchadors, a day to celerbate lucha libre. This concept has been tried on many different days over the years, was re-introduced in the Mexican Senate in 2016, celebrated in 2017, and finally officially passed into law in 2019. Brazo de Oro and CMLL pushed for this idea but, like those other times the idea has been introduced, it faded from attention quickly. For whatever reason, it got treated like a big deal this year, with more news outlets running “the history of lucha libre” type pieces. It also was a leaping-off point for three press conferences, unrelated except for all being tied to this holiday day.

The most notable of the three press conferences was “Juntos por la Lucha Libre“, a movement to create better-living conditions and a safety net for luchadors. This is a noble cause that gets brought up all the time by various groups of people – the resurrection of the old wrestler’s union was the most recent example; this is separate from that effort. Lady Apache was among those wrestlers present for the press conference, reminding me of the many other times I’ve seen her at similar events that haven’t gone anywhere (and it turns out Apache pointed out the same pattern in Yahoo’s report on the press conference.) These keep on happening because there is a need but rarely any action. Juntos por la Lucha Libre is specifically looking for better social security for luchadors, access to credit for buying homes, medical services for all luchadors, and unified regulations for lucha libre across the country. They went as far as to say the labor contract wrestlers sign is invalid and breaks labor law. They are solid goals. I have no idea how they get there.

This press conference was notable because the person leading it was Sofia Alonso Perches, who was the director of CMLL for a short period of time following the death of her father until she was pushed out of power by relatives. She’s rarely appeared in public since that time and has become a sort of heroic figure among disaffected CMLL fans as the promotion’s struggle has deepened, a messiah who would have fixed all the problems if she’s been allowed. (No one knows for sure how it would’ve gone, though her actions before and during her time in charge suggest there would’ve been changes.) Alonso said believed she knew the daily struggles of luchadors from being a part of CMLL, feels like people in power (as she was) should’ve taken action sooner to help out luchadors, and the pandemic exposing the full scope of the problems. The others who’ve tried to get conditions fixed have generally been wrestlers, occasionally promoters, working from the bottom to reach people at the top. Alonso is presumed to be still a wealthy person from her family’s fortune, and maybe she’ll have access to make changes from the top that aren’t available to most luchadors. She said more information about the campaign would be announced in future months.

Sofia Alonso appearing in public was a rare opportunity for the media to ask her why exactly she’s not in CMLL any more. ESPN.com.mx has a thorough interview, in both text and video, where most of the questions are about CMLL and Alonso. Her official explain is she expected to be in charge of CMLL following her father’s death, but there were discrepancies in the decisions that had to be made within [CMLL] with the “current administration” and she was “presented from moving forward with my responsibility and position. Sofia Alonso is now not working for CMLL and unaware of the day-to-day decisions, though she retains some knowledge about how things are run based on her own time there. An amusing theme in the interview is the reporter wants Alonso to agree CMLL is in crisis and to blame the people in charge, and she’s too classy to do both. Alonso agrees CMLL is in crisis but put all of the blame on COVID – COVID for shutting down the shows and for reducing the turnout, causing wrestlers not to get paid enough and look for work elsewhere. She passes up many chances to blame the Salvador Lutteroths in charge of CMLL now, though she coldly refers to them as the “current administration.” Alonso also shoots down the idea of starting her own promotion, a dream idea teased by ex-CMLL wrestler, saying her focus is on the Juntos por Lucha Libre campaign and feels it’s more important than any wrestling promotion.

CMLL is a sensitive promotion. Sofia Alonso went out of her way to be kind to them in this interview, but even the slightest hint at criticism might be enough to cause a reaction.

CMLL had their own press event on Tuesday. Mexico’s Secretaria de Relations Exteriores debuted the first in a campaign of videos focusing on lucha libre and its place in Mexican culture called “Desenmascarado la lucha libre.” They started with lucha libre. Various officials and diplomats from other countries appeared in the ring before Tuesday’s show to talk, and Amapola spoke about the importance of lucha libre and luchadors to Mexico. That speech was streamed and the idea was the opening match would also air. CMLL even reorganized their card order so they could have a ‘good’ midcard match to open the show instead of the minis who would normally be in that spot. Except, either the Foreign Relations department accidentally cut off the stream or the stream just automatically turned off after an hour, and the match didn’t air. CMLL hastily ended up airing the minis match as a make-good.

Full results

CMLL (TUE) 09/21/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Dark Magic, Okumura, Virus b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus
moved to the opener as part of a co-promotion with the foreign relations department. Rudos took 1/3, with Virus taunting the Depredadores after beating them.
2) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito 
3) Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Robin
Rudos took 1/3.
4) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela b Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer
Tag champs (& Marcela) pick up a win before their title defense on Friday.
5) Atlantis Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Terrible
Tecnicos took 1/3.

That first Foreign Relations video to promote lucha libre and Mexican culture is very well done. I’m totally unsure where future videos will be posted, I only caught this one because they played it on the stream.

Mexico City’s INJUVE (Youth Institue) government organization also held a press conference to celebrate lucha libre. They announced a lucha libre sticker album to promote healthy activities for children. It looks as though most the stickers are older wrestlers, but Diosa Quetzal and Bandido spoke at the press conference and they’re part of it too. They were part of the COVID prevention and vaccination this past year, and they’re being used as spokespeople here in a similar fashion. The presentation included a moment of applause for Principe Aereo, who passed away after a match last year. The album was dedicated in his memory. Gravity, Komander, and others appeared on a panel discussion talking about lucha libre and the album; it had to be taped a while ago given Komander seemed fine. The albums and sticker packets will be given out free at various wrestling spots over the next couple of months, including Bandido’s Gym today, to people between the ages of 12 and 29. The first person between 12 and 22 to get all 56 stickers will win an iPad mini. Everyone else will get tickets to the next Big Lucha show on 10/10. Those stickers should got to the kids but I suspect there’s going to be some aftermarket value on them for obscure wrestling merch collectors.

Metalik asks for his WWE release

Mas Lucha’s Miguel Reducindo reports WWE’s Gran Metalik asked WWE for his release The ex-Mascara Dorada has posted Twitter messages through the years expressing his unhappiness with WWE and teasing leaving but has always ended up staying. This report says Metalik has asked WWE for his release this time. It also notes Metalik is under contract thru 2023. My uneducated guess is Metalik will probably have to sit at home for a while without getting that release; WWE’s pattern has generally been against early releases, with those asking for them instead of getting swept out in the following wave of cuts. Metalik seemed a decent bet to be in that next wave of cuts based on his position anyway but now it’ll be him asking him to quit instead of WWE getting ridding of him first.

Gran Metalik was never a great fit for WWE’s style of pro wrestling. Being able to execute the scripted dialogue is as important as the scripted moves. Metalik wasn’t training in dialogue before coming to WWE, wasn’t ever a great talker even in Spanish, and didn’t become a fluent English speaker during his time in WWE. There was always going to be a wrestling style mismatch, but Metalik at least had a chance of adapting to the in-ring stuff. There was no chance he’d fit in the out-of-ring material and there was no chance WWE would be willing to adjust their presentation to his skills.

Maybe Gran Metalik didn’t understand fully what WWE would be looking for from him when he came to WWE. He surely found out over time. WWE paid better than what he was making in Mexico, even as an in-demand top wrestler when he left. WWE more so afforded Metalik a chance to move his family to the US, which was an important part of his deal. There weren’t many “full time, live in the US” deals to be had for a Mexican luchador in 2016 outside of WWE. There still aren’t; maybe just the Lucha Brothers AEW. ROH is paying luchadors well, but I think most of those wrestlers are still living where they did when they started slow. Whenever there was talk about Metalik’s status in WWE, like when he’d tease leaving on Twitter, people who knew him said he’d stay in WWE as long as they’d have him just to stay in the US. Metalik was really another person who was working a job they weren’t especially fond of because he felt it was the best for his family, and he put his professional aspirations aside for it. It looks like he finally reached a breaking point where he couldn’t do the job any longer.

I’m not entirely sure what’s next for Metalik. It was his connection with Karl Anderson from NJPW which seemed to get him noticed for the Cruiserweight Classic, so perhaps Andreson will help him get to one of three (AEW, Impact, NJPW) groups he’s working with now. Metalik appeared to leave CMLL on the best possible terms – they gave him a sendoff few other got – and perhaps could return, though they’re unlikely to spend big money to bring him in. AAA seems to make a run at every big name post-WWE and might try the same with Metalik for their first show after he becomes available. There are probably opportunities for Metalik and other Lucha House Party members to reunite that tag team on indie shows. Kalisto’s been previously released. Lince Dorado hasn’t said anything yet, but he and Metalik are close and likely made the same decision at the same time.

It’s also unclear what Metalik we’d see in the ring post-WWE. He’s been working a toned down style from WWE and looked shaky whenever he’s tried to bring back a few of the tricker spots. 2016 Mascara Dorada was one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world and it would’ve been tough to stay that level even if he had been working regularly and normally for the last five years. Metalik has spent the last five years being told to change everything he does, and I’m not sure he can snap back to what he was before (or something better) after all that reprogramming. I’m also fearful of what he’ll be after the long poor experience; many of the Mexican wrestlers who went to WCW were never the same after being treated like prelim talent for years. I hope we get the Bryan Danielson match but I’m not sure what we’ll get out of Dorada – it’s really all the concerns I’ve had about post-WWE Andrade but much bigger since Dorada didn’t have the success Andrade did.

CMLL and trademarks

I was researching Mascara Dorada’s names in trademark databases. I could’ve sworn he said registered “Metalik” near the end of his CMLL run (likely knowing it would be the end of his CMLL run and he wouldn’t be able to use Mascara Dorada unless he came back), but I don’t see it there. I do see the Mascara Dorada name trademarked, one of the many originally filed by Paco Alonso and transferred to Sofia. I also noticed a new filling for Mascara Dorada under the name “PROMOCIONES MÉXICO COLISEO Y REVOLUCIÓN, S.C.” filed back in June. That’s the strange business name the younger Salvador Lutteroth has used for his CMLL title in announcements since taking charge. Digging deeper, “PROMOCIONES MÉXICO COLISEO Y REVOLUCIÓN, S.C.” filed a whole bunch of trademarks. A few are older ones, most were filed in June. Here’s the complete list, which is freely accessible to anyone who navigates Mexico’s online trademark search database.

• A Ras de Lona (the name of one of the TV shows, has art)
• El Consejo
• Match Relampago de Maestros (has art)
• Torneo Cibernetico Suicida
• CMLL
• Titan Inmortal
• Magia Blanca
• Rush
• Titanes del Ring (another TV show)
• Averno
• CMLL Informa
• Gran Guerrero
• “Angel de Oro Nominativa Clase 41” (someone filled in a form wrong)
• Campeon Universal del CMLL
• Mascara Dorada
• Angel Ingobernable
• Los Ingobernables de Japon
• Diamante Azul
• Los Gladiadores Reys del Aire (has art)
• (the small version of the CMLL logo, just the gold circle an the mask in the middle)
• Euforia
• National Wrestling Alliance NWA
• Luchamania
• (a KeMonito artwork)
• Las Diosas del Ring
• Ephesto
• El Sagrado
• KeMonito
• Guerreros del Ring (another TV show)
• Los Nuevos Ingobernables
• Mistico
• Niebla Roja
• Relevo Relampago
• Valiente
• Viernes Espectacular
• Dragon Rojo
• Blue Diamond
• Mephisto
• Museo del CMLL
• Relevos Increible
• EMLL Empresa Mexicana de Lucah LIbre
• Ultimo Guerrero
• Blue Panther
• Noches de Campeones

Only the Noches de Campeones name has moved from “pending” to “registered” (finished). The June timestamp makes me think this is related to Diamante Azul’s departure. I haven’t checked all of them, but many of them seem to be names previously registered to one of the Alonso family, and maybe this is someone now in charge of CMLL just going through the list of Alonso names to try and pull them back. It’d explain why Averno, Mephisto, and Ephesto are listed but not Lucifierno; these are an older group of names. (Averno is actually registered by both Sofia Alonso and Promociones Antonio Pena as well as this new trademark, but it hasn’t seemed to affect him wrestling as an indie at all.) Ultimo Guerrero and Blue Panther are older ones and stick out because both those wrestlers used those names before coming to CMLL and have attempted to register themselves. Blue Panther’s people put it in as “The Blue Panther” and it’s still pending. Ultimo Guerrero has his name approved, though there are other non-CMLL people also trying to register for wrestling purposes. I don’t know what that means so let’s move on to something else.

Possible Aniversario Changes

Reyna Isis’ status for Friday’s show is up in the air. She revealed on CMLL Informa that she tested positive for COVID following the 09/10 show. She says feels completely fine and has no symptoms. Isis still hasn’t gotten a negative test though and is stuck on the sideline, including missing last Friday’s show. She underwent her most recent COVID test on Wednesday and did not yet have the result. Reyna Isis will main event Friday’s Aniversario show, challenging for the women’s tag team titles with Dark Silueta, if she tested negative today. Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer will replace them against Lluvia & La Jarohcita if Isis tested positive. Isis & Silueta would then get their shot, and a main event spot, on a future Friday show.

(I didn’t catch any mention of Isis’ vaccination status. As best I can tell, Mexican citizens of her age would’ve been eligible for just for the first shot in a two shot vaccine.)

I do not believe CMLL is taking COVID totally seriously. There doesn’t appear to be contact tracing going on; they only seem to pull people who test positive and are going through the extra necessary step of pulling people who might have come into conflict with infected people until they’re sure. Isis & Silueta appeared on video together late on Tuesday 09/14 to celebrate winning the fan poll and Isis’ positive test likely came just a few hours later. CMLL is treating Isis’ positive test and Silueta negative test as absolute truths, letting Silueta continue to wrestle. I hope Silueta is fine, but I don’t know that anyone should have that sort of complete trust in those results.

If Isis tested positive on Wednesday 09/15 and was subsequently confirmed to COVID positive by her doctor, it seems unlikely it’ll clear her system in nine days. CMLL’s system is adhering to what they have to do not to get in trouble, not what they should be doing to take care of the health of their staff and wrestlers.

Titan is the other notable name missing from CMLL shows later. CMLL said nothing directly about his status. They just hyped the Los Gemelos Diablos versus Volador & Titan match as if all was normal. Everything else seems to be on, though I guess we don’t know for sure on anything until everyone’s tests come back. CMLL’s changed Friday lineups at 1 AM, 10 AM, and 11 AM on Friday the last few weeks, though perhaps they’ll make more of an announcement of changes since they’re already talking about Isis’ situation.

Other News

IWRG (THU) 09/23/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion & Hell Boy vs Shalom & Skanda
2) Legendario, Noicy Boy, Sol vs Kenji, Rey Halcón, Vudu Max
3) Lolita & Sagitarius vs Atena & Kendy Rebel
4) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike vs Halloween Jr., Medico Brujo, Sick Boy
5) Aster Boy, Bengalee, Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Tonalli, Toxin vs Eli Surge, Giant Orión, Liiza Hall, Lil Blay, Miles Deville, Sidney Steele, Sweet Daddy Soul

That’s a Mexico versus Canada main event. The Canadian crew has been in Mexico for a week, working random shows, and said to be the Can-Am Wrestling promotion from Calgary. That group has run two shows this year according to Cagematch; their Facebook indicates they may be running a third soon and has a biweekly schedule the rest of the year, solid for a Canadian indie but not exactly a big group or one with much recent history. I presume they’re doing a wrestling tourist thing in Mexico – IWRG treated it like a big deal when they were able to briefly bring in Tyson Maddox and Gianna Valletta on their own, so them (or even smaller groups) paying for seven people seems impossible. It’s good for the Canadians that they’re getting these main events, though I’m skeptical it’s good for the Mexican wrestling that people can just show up and end up in main events. I guess if it draws, then it’s fine, but it doesn’t seem a healthy business. (It’s not a healthy business, I know.)

Andrade and Dorian Roldan had a back and forth about Andrade working in AAA again. One of the reasons given as Andrade not winning at TripleMania was no future dates had been agreed upon at that point.

A local press release on 10/09 Heroes Inmortales says the show will be taped for Space & Azteca and air live on Twitch. I lean towards the press release basing it off old information and not what will happen. AAA still hasn’t said what they’re doing with that show and I don’t think we’ll hear from Space until the week of the show.

California’s RGR posted a long note on Facebook saying they’re not responsible for the prices wrestlers charge for merchandise and photos at their shows unless it’s something the promotion produces themselves. There’s no explanation of what actually happened; I was told this was something to do with Canek antagonizing fans over his prices on recent shows.

Bryan Danielson mentioned watching a Pentagon versus Cody Rhodes match in AEW as something that made him interested in jumping to AEW. Danielson expressed an interest in coming to Mexico, though notably it was framed as facing Psycho Clown at TripleMania, not Blue Panther in Arena Mexico.

ESTO has interviews with Villano III and Espiritu Negro.

The Crash announced Psycho Clown on 10/08.

Super Crazy & Tajiri were announced for All Japan’s tag league from November 13th to November 28.

Milenio interviews Fernando Cavazos Torres, who’s written 25 books about lucha libre.

IWRG will have a special show with the Red Cross on October 10th.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

The Duo Dinamico podcast has Arez & RIOT co-promoter Alfredo Alvarado as guests.

CMLL (FRI) 09/17/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Marca, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, 2020 (makeup date)
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus b Disturbio, El Coyote, Sangre Imperial [Relevos Increíbles]    
12:27. The new Deperadores team took 1/3.
2) Dark Silueta, Marcela Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer b Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia [Relevos Increíbles]    
12:05. Team Silueta took 2/3, with Silueta beating both Jarochita & Lluvia back to back to win the match (and set up next week’s tag title match.) Stephanie Vaquer replaced Princesa Sugehit.
3) Euforia, Hechicero, Místico DQ Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]   
19:10. Team Hechicero took 2/3, the last when Hechicero faked a foul from UG as a preview to next week. Sangre Chicana was honored after the match. Many of his children, including AAA’s La Hiedra, appeared.
4) Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero [Copa Independencia]      
19:05. One fall match. Gran Guerrero attacked Volador after the match and the other Depredadores swarmed and ripped his mask off.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario b Felino [hair]      
10:49. One fall. Cavernario won cleanly with La Nieblina. Felino got his head shaved in the ring. Cavernario stated in post match that his own challenge left was a hair match with Ultimo Guerrero (as he had named in pre-match interviews.)

The best I can say about this show was it was fine. If this was some random Friday night show airing for free on YouTube with no expectations, most people would’ve gone home happy they spent the two hours watching it. This was meant to instead be one of the biggest shows of CMLL’s year and just being fine didn’t meet those expectations.

Cavernario & Felino did a lot in a short amount of time, and the crowd didn’t react to much of it. Felino playing to the crowd to get sympathy after the match (and before his haircut) got noise, Cavernario using the Nieblina to win did not. The top two matches were switched to one fall, something that wasn’t announced prior and may have been easily missed, so it’s possible fans didn’t understand the match was actually over until fireworks went off. Still, the previous match was one fall and fans were more into chanting for Volador than anything that happened in the main event. CMLL booked the main event that they believed their fans should want to see, not one they organically wanted to see. and they got a bad result. Cavernario was very definite post-match about only wanting to face the top guys in CMLL in apuesta matches now – Ultimo Guerrero was name-dropped. I wonder what happens with him and CMLL after those matches, or if CMLL doesn’t give those to him.

Everything else was about what you’d expect out of the match. Volador and Gran Guerrero had a very normal match between them, one that went too long given how little time it left the main event. The strong presence of the Depredadores, in both that post-match and the opener, are the only ways you can tell this match happened in 2021 rather than 2017 or 2019. The UG trios match was the best of the three, though they also took up a lot of time on a show where the main event ended up being rushed and not always for good reasons. The booking of both the second and third set up next week’s Night of Champions show, though it contributed to all the Sangre Chicana children losing on the show honoring him. Chicana was warmly received by the fans.

If this show turns up on YouTube (on 10/03), it’s fine enough to have on but you’re not going to feel you missed something if you never get to watch it. It also was a little bit weird for them to spend the undercard to build to next week’s show when they were pricing this ticket like it was the more important one.

CMLL never talks about attendance, so it’s notable they specifically called Friday’s turnout “the largest entry since March 13, 2020 (the start of the pandemic).” That does suggest they were allowed to open up more seats since they’ve said they’ve sold out the previous 1,500 number prior.

CMLL (SUN) 09/19/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Angelito & Kaligua b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Grako, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Robin
Rudos took 1/3
3) Dark Magic, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Cachorro, Flyer, Panterita del Ring
Dark Magic replaced Dark Panther. Rudos took 1/3.
4) Espíritu Negro, Magia Blanca, Rey Cometa b Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III, Pólvora
Tecnicos took 1/3. Magia Blanca replaced Stuka Jr. on Saturday
5) Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Templario b Místico, Valiente, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
straight falls, Angel de Oro pulled Mistico’s mask to pin him in the second fall.

That reads like an Angel de Oro/Mistico singles match coming up soon. Not sure if there were second thoughts about Dark Panther facing his brother Cachorro or whoever gave the website person the lineup made a typo.

CMLL (TUE) 09/21/2021 Arena México
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Virus
2) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
3) Eléctrico, Oro Jr., Robin vs Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
4) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela vs Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer
5) Atlantis Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Terrible

The opener is listed as being aired by the Secretary of Foreign Relations. I only can guess why they’d be airing a CMLL match, but it does explain why that normally 3rd or 4th match is the opener: putting it in the opener gives them a firm starting time for the stream. The SRE has a Facebook page, which is usually where the government matches air.

Other Results

IWRG (SUN) 09/19/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Bengalee & Sagitrius DQ Kendy Rebel & Satania 
Satania pulled Bengalee’s mask for the DQ
2) Rey Halcón & Tortuga Leo b Noicy Boy & Sol 
3) Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, Tonalli b Akbal, Caballero de Plata, Mexica 
4) Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Oficial AK47 b Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura 
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Súper Nova & Texano Jr. 
Wagner won via foul. They did a quick singles match after with Wagner beating Texano after Galeno got involved.
6) Hijo del Espectro Jr., Medico Brujo, Sick Boy b Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike 
A scheduled Toxin/Espectro match was canceled due to Toxin saying he picked up a neck injury in Monterrey. This match replaced it.

Hijo del Espectro Jr. got a tooth knocked out of place in the main event.

RIOT had a secret show Saturday night outside of Monterrey. Results are here; the show should turn up on VOD at some point. Hechicero versus Erik Ortiz was said to be one of the better matches of the year, and Arez and Latigo had a bloody title match. Toxin wrestled on that show, but it didn’t appear he suffered the neck injury he appeared with on Sunday (and it’s surprising the Lucha Time guys were around to fill out that match on short notice.)

Rey Bucanero did a knee injury angle outside of Arena Mexico to take him out of the main event of his own show, where he was to face Veneno for a new title belt. Hijo del Pirata Morgan replaced him and lost. Bucanero no doubt has actual knee issues; it’s possible he wasn’t good to wrestle and they came up with the angle to explain it, but he’d been hyping the match days prior.

In Guadalajara, Rayman beat Gallo in a hair match between two masked wrestlers. Rayman used a ref bump to win, Gallo uncovered his head enough to get his hair cut while complaining about the cheating. Mas Lucha says the referees at this building are named el Rufian and el Hipocrita, which doesn’t sound promising for their work.

Atomic Star lost his hair in a cage match in Reynosa.

Alex Black, who recently lost his hair in Arena Naucalpan despite almost never wrestling there before, lost a mask versus career match in home promotion Lucha Time. An incident with Black’s opponent, Punk Clown, and a fan during that match turned into a viral bit. It feels like a likely angle.

Laredo Kid won a five-way on Impact Wrestling’s Victory show this past Saturday. I saw a six-way match listed among the previous taping results, but I presumed it was a yet-to-air TV match when it wasn’t mentioned on the PPV lineup. It appears Impact retaped the match as a five-way this past weekend for the PPV, probably because they didn’t want to put a wrestler named Suicide on TV so soon after Daffney’s passing. Maybe it wasn’t mentioned as a PPV match because they were uncertain how they would handle it, or it may just have not been important. Laredo Kid beat John Skyler in both versions of the match. Laredo Kid was at the tapings this past weekend, but I haven’t seen any results involving him yet. I suspect he’ll be in the mix for their now-vacant X-Division championship on their 10/23 PPV.

Esther Moreno said she was retiring following a match Sunday night in Arena Azteca Budokan.

Other News

Bandido posted an apology for Travis Banks wrestling on his show in one two Twitter posts. What I’ve heard about the situation is Banks flew himself to Mexico, got himself to Bandido’s gym, found a way to help out before the show, and used that to ask for a spot on the show. Bandido and the other people running the show had no knowledge of Banks’ history – they knew so little they thought he was still wrestling in the UK – and just remembered him from working Progress shows so they gave him a spot in the multi-person opener. Bandido had no idea anything there was anything wrong until after the show when he saw the reactions on Twitter.

I got asked in the comments if I think Travis Banks is going to wrestle in Mexico. I didn’t see him on any results this week and my thought is we won’t see him because this was all about Banks delusionally trying to find a way back to an important wrestling promotion and not just wrestling for wrestling sake. Banks could’ve gotten away with changing his name or wrestling under a mask if he just wanted to wrestle anonymously; it’s unlikely people would’ve put it together (and even if they did or used his usual name, few in Mexico seem to be aware or cares about his past; I guess I’m relieved he didn’t try one of the two big promotions because I’m not certain they would stop using him.) My guess is he flew to Mexico to try to get on this show in hopes of getting a look from Ring of Honor and will be gone now that’s definitely not happening. He’d have to be an idiot to think that would work, but the other choices that have led him to this point suggest he’s an idiot.

We Are Not Zombies has a story on Mr. Iguana, showing how he puts on his face paint.

Luchadors in Hidalgo held a food drive for those affected by recent flooding.

Box y Lucha 3490 has Volador, Cavernario and Sangre Chicana on the cover.

A fan asked Andrade when we’d see him in AAA again, and Andrade pointedly said that was a question for AAA. AAA didn’t respond.

Desde de Tercera Cuerda has an interview with Miguel Reducindo.